The average broadband download speed in the US is only 1.9 megabits per second, compared to 61 Mbps in Japan, 45 Mbps in South Korea, 18 Mbps in Sweden, 17 Mpbs in France, and 7 Mbps in Canada, according to the Communication Workers of America.

Yeh no kidding….

When I was at home at Christmas I set my dad up with DSL that was 12Mbps. His monthly bill? 9 pounds ($18 ish)….

I used to think that the US was so far ahead of everywhere else (and it used to be) but nowadays it seems the US has begun to lag while the telecom and cable companies cash in….

The question is do we need higher download speeds? Unless you are a file sharing freak, or until a really good Video On Demand service comes along, the answer is probably not. Anything over 2 Mbps is pretty good for web surfing. Right?